Wedding customs and procedures of Tujia people in Enshi, Hubei

Over the long historical process, the Tujia people in Enshi, Hubei Province have gradually formed multi-level etiquette in the marriage system. These etiquette are very complex and grand, and it is a complete etiquette process. Enshi Mountain has few adults and traffic is blocked. The people of Enshi have a fierce and tenacious psychological quality. Therefore, in the cumbersome etiquette, they still maintain ancient traditions such as "the house where the bride is married does not put off the candle for three nights, and the house where the bride is married is happy for three days." Generally, there are etiquette such as asking for breath, asking for red, choosing big incense, sending a deadline, serving red, paying a ceremony, accompanying ten brothers, accompanying ten sisters, welcoming, blocking the door, sending a bride, bowing, blocking a carriage and horse, making a bed, welcoming the bride, making wax, making a round kiss, bustling rooms, newlyweds kneeling, welcoming the wind, praying tea, noodles with flowers, and returning to the door.

To get angry is to ask the man's family to invite a matchmaker to propose marriage at the woman's family. A woman's family allows marriage to be called "talk". After the man took a fancy, he asked a matchmaker to propose marriage to the woman. If the woman agrees, she will appoint a date to "pass through". The man will prepare clothes, wine, meat, refreshments, etc., and the father or mother will take his son and invite a matchmaker to accompany him to the woman's house to set off firecrackers. Parents of both sides call each other "in-laws". From then on, they often came and went, called "If you don't get married, you will have two families, but if you get married, you will have one family."

After the man arrives at the woman's house, the woman will choose an auspicious day for her brother-in-law or sister-in-law or sister-in-law and the matchmaker to go to the man's house to "see the porch" to see the family conditions). Some will inform the man in advance, and some will not inform the man, and the woman will conduct secret investigations and secret visits. If the woman feels satisfied afterwards and agrees to the marriage, the next step will be taken, otherwise the decision will be over here. This is the initial procedure for young men and women to engage.

Some places to pray for the Red Gung are also called Zifang Fragrance. After selecting the fragrant Fragrance, the man will send gifts and make a special trip to the woman's home to pray for the "Red Gung" and ask the woman's parents to "send the woman's eight characters." That is, after the woman allows her to marry, the man will select various clothes, cakes, wine, and meat, and place them in a table box, and prepare a "Geng letter". Pen, ink, incense, candles, and paper money will be placed in the table box. Ask the matchmaker to accompany the gift to the woman's formal engagement. Seeking red geng is also called "begging eight characters".

The woman invited the family and filled in the birth year, month, day and hour of the daughter she was married with in a fixed format in the "Geng Book", and sent it back to the man's home called "Fa Eight Character". Some women put the four treasures of the study in a table box from the man's house, and some poems and shoes and ornaments made by their daughter for the man are called return boxes. During the period before formal marriage, the man would pay New Year greetings to the woman at her home during festivals and festivals. Choosing a big fragrance refers to the etiquette that when a man reaches the age of marriage, he should recognize the entire family and propose marriage.

Generally, when young men and women reach the age of eighteen or nine, the man will prepare several sets of cloth materials and generous gifts such as square elbows, wine, meat, and noodles. Similarly, matchmakers and parents will bring their son to the woman's house, and then go to the house of the woman's grandfather, uncle, uncle, uncle and other relatives with the woman's parents to give gifts and recognize relatives, expressing that they want to complete the marriage and receive gifts. Sending a deadline means that one or several years after filling out the genge period, depending on the age of the man and the family's financial status, the man invites a matchmaker to come to the woman's home to make a marriage request. If the woman agrees, the man can choose an auspicious date based on the woman's "eight characters" obtained during the engagement and his own "eight characters". The matchmaker will lead the man to carry a date note stating the wedding date and send it to the woman. This is called a date delivery note. Some also have the custom of giving "two sets", that is, after the wedding date is determined, the man's family must give two sets of clothes to the girl.

From then on, the woman began to make marriage arrangements, such as making a dowry, laying a cage quilt, etc. The girl should personally weave brightly colored, beautiful and suitable Silankapu. Shanghongxi is two days before the wedding ceremony. The man wants to hire a man who is good at rhetoric and enjoys prestige to be the "supervisor" and take charge of all matters during the wedding period. You also need to pick up matchmakers and receptionists. In order to reward the matchmaker for their kindness in matchmaking, the host family would allow each piece of red cloth to be presented to the Yue Lao, and they would also pull a few pieces of red cloth to cover the Eight Immortals Master with red colors, which was called "Shang Hongzhi".

At the beginning of the banquet, the Duguan represented the host family and praised the matchmaker and the Eight Immortals Master, and there was a white saying: "Lord Hongyue, sit up respectfully. There is no cloud in the sky without rain, and there is no match on the ground. Thanks to your past matchmaking, climbing mountains and rivers, scouring all the gods, crossing mountains and boundaries, and working hard. Today, it is reasonable that a certain family should bring you silk and satin from Beijing, Shanghai and Wuhan. Due to the rush of time, I only picked up a section of coarse cloth in the county seat of Honshu, and Mochizuki Lao Haihan accepted it with a smile." The matchmaker replied: "Long hands lose their collar!" Take the red cloth. When the wedding day comes, each person is allowed to welcome each other. Three days before the wedding ceremony, the man's family invites three capable people to welcome each person and entertain guests. The host should set up a special table to entertain him, and the head of the household should explain all matters to the three stewards during the table. Those who entertain guests are called the "inner chief" or "inner chief". Among them, a man and a woman are called the "Lu chief" or "Mr. Li chief".

On the first day of the wedding ceremony, the "Mr. Rites" led the team, accompanied by the matchmaker and son-in-law, delivered various bonuses for the man to the woman's home, explained the betrothal gift, clothes, etc. to the woman, and discussed all matters related to the wedding the next day. This is called "ceremony." On this day, the receptionist invited by the man's home blew the suona, and the person carrying the gift box was led by the governor to the woman's home.

When they arrived at the woman's house, they ordered people to place the gift box in the middle hall, and then negotiate with Mr. Chaotang invited by the woman, asking questions and answering questions, which are called "packing the box" and "opening the box." On the evening when he returned from the ceremony, the man hosted a banquet for the unmarried children of relatives and friends at home. Nine of them accompanied the groom to sing, drink, and have fun. They were called "accompanying the ten brothers." Some burned incense in the middle hall with candlelight, melted paper, held a banquet, and offered sacrifices to the family gods that night. The bridegroom and bride bowed to their ancestors. In some places, there are not limited to ten people. At that time, all unmarried boys from relatives and friends will be invited to the banquet and sit down. A glass of wine will be set at the banquet. A singer will be selected to give the order, and the "Song of Opening the Taiwan" will be sung.

Then take turns singing in turn. Those who sing well will eat more music, and those who sing poorly will be punished. Formally, according to the needs of different tunes and lyrics, they will sing solo or duet, or one person leads the singer and everyone helps out. In addition to auspicious words such as flattery and congratulatory words among singers, it can also be sung such as stories, ancient people, and pan songs. Some people also use suona and silk strings to accompany it.

Finally, the singer accepted the order and sang the round-table song to break up the banquet. The woman asked nine unmarried women to accompany her in singing, drinking and having fun, which was called "accompanying the ten sisters." Some places are called "crying for marriage", and the content includes congratulations, exhortations, and sadness. Whoever sings in the poem will give money to show his concern.

The crying marriage lasted until dawn the next day. Crying marriage usually starts three or seven days before the bride gets married, and some begin the prelude to crying and singing in the first half month, one month or even three months. However, it was done intermittently at the beginning. You can cry freely. Relatives and neighbors came to visit with gifts, and whoever came would cry as a courtesy of thanks. From the night before the wedding ceremony to the next day when we boarded the sedan chair, crying for marriage reached its climax. Crying and singing during this period must be carried out in accordance with traditional etiquette and cannot be cried indiscriminately. Anyone who cannot cry will be laughed at or even discriminated against by others.

Generally speaking, the content of crying singing mainly includes "crying for parents","crying for brothers and sisters-in-law","crying for sisters","crying for uncles","crying for accompanying guests","crying for matchmakers","crying for combing hair","crying for ancestors","crying for getting on the sedan chair", etc. The "lyrics" are both traditional and handed down from generation to generation, and also improvised by the bride and her sisters who "cried". The content mainly expresses gratitude to my parents and elders for their nurturing and the care of my brothers and sisters; and cries about the sadness that the happy life in my girlhood is about to pass away and the confusion and uneasiness before the new life comes.

There are also some who vent their dissatisfaction with marriage, their lifelong hatred for matchmakers, and so on. The man was led by the "Mr. Li" to the wedding team to the woman's house. All the men hired the horses and sedan chairs, with drums leading the way and flags following behind them. They went all the way to the woman's house to pick up the dowry and welcome the bride, which was called "wedding."

When the

for the man to welcome the bride and serve as the "gentleman in charge", the woman blocks the door, also known as the "iron gate barrier." The first block is on the courtyard door, and the second block is on the gate of the middle hall. Every place is blocked with benches. On the benches are placed a wine jar, a pot, and two bowls. The woman's "supervisor" leads two people to guard and prevent the wedding person from entering. The man in charge of the ceremony came closer and hurriedly ordered those who fired cannons in the team to fire cannons and those who played music. He rushed forward and went outside the door to talk to the woman's "Duguan". After exchanging greetings, he checked the details to see who could not answer clearly. Those who could not answer would be punished with wine or submitted to a lower level to recognize their teacher. After these two barriers, it means that the man wins. At this time, the bands from both sides were singing in the courtyard, firecrackers were ringing, and the welcoming team poured into the middle gate. The "Mr. Li" shouted,"Congratulations! Congratulations!" Place the gift list and other items in front of the family god and display the gifts in the hall. The woman hurriedly gave tea and cigarettes to the man who came.

The woman's family gods should use bright lights and candles, burn incense and turn paper, and pay homage to the ancestors and gods. Open the gifts sent by the man and count them one by one, called "opening the box". The custom of "blocking the door" is in some places a couplet song, in some places a dialogue, and in some places it is very harsh. If the man loses, the singer and the supervisor will give him a big gift of three tea. After blocking the door, the middle hall was wide open. The suona played in unison, the artillery roared, and the road officials led the crowd to congratulate them on entering the door. The woman will entertain her when she enters the door, and begins kissing after dinner. After the woman's banquet, she announced the marriage, that is, burning candles and incense on the woman's family god and handing over the dowry to the man who handed the ceremony.

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then led the girl out of the boudoir, accompanied by the "relatives" to salute the family god, to the biological parents, and to all neighbors, relatives and friends. After leaving the gate, she walked on the road with the welcoming team without a sedan chair. This was "getting married." Wedding team over mountains, wading across the bridge, crossing the street, crossing the river, crossing the bridge before the dowry will stop not to go, must send out the sedan chair to help people with smoke and sugar can not be called "obstinate ceremony."

After the wedding team came back, the sedan chair was lifted to the courtyard and stopped, with a bench to intercept it. The cook carried a red rooster in his left hand and a kitchen knife in his right hand. In front of the stool, he muttered some words in his mouth. Then he took the blood of the rooster and put it on the incense table and the head of the sedan chair. Then he threw the chicken from the top of the sedan chair to end it. In some places, the man's family is responsible for Chen cigarettes, wine, gifts and a chicken. He sacrifices and supports the gods outside the door. It is called "blocking the evil spirit and entering the door." A seven-star lamp is lit inside the door and a sieve is covered. In some places, when the sedan chair reaches the door, a student is asked to come to the front of the sedan chair to signal to stop the sedan chair and call it "stop the sedan chair." Mr. Li melted paper in front of the sedan chair and recited,"My family's incense is here to welcome the bride, please return home to honor the family's incense." This custom is called "returning to God", and some are called "returning to the car".

The man asked two middle-aged and elderly women with sons and daughters to lay the bedding of the wife's dowry on the bed of the new house. The second woman who made the bed must be able to say "blessings" in four words). It's just four words a sentence and eight sentences to express congratulations. For example: "Make the bed, make the bed, and you will have children and grandchildren; a gentleman will have a son, and you will have a girl." The noble son becomes a dragon, and the girl becomes a phoenix. For ten years and eight years, the dragon and phoenix are auspicious." The new girl's descendants immediately marry her. When they reach the man's gate, they have to give the red envelopes and wedding money to the girl who sifted tea and handed water.

The tea sifting girl said while sifting tea inside the door: "The orange leaves are layered, the flowers are white as silver, and the fruits are yellow. Pick up the tea tray and pick up the kiss. The road is rough, the seat is not upright, the hall is lecturing, and the embroidery room is accompanying the newlyweds!" The relative replied: "The stars in the sky are smiling, the fish are jumping in the river, and the daughters of a rich family are not allowed to interfere. I heard his name on the Jiuli Road, and I knew his name on the Ten-Li Road. I know that you, a tea-sifter, are a capable person." Mr. Du Guan replied: "Relatives are just new people, and they don't ask for courtesy and righteousness. I didn't post a letter a year earlier, and I didn't post a post a day earlier. Activate relatives to climb mountains and ridges, climb mountains and borders, and freeze you in the frost. In Huatang, a pair of red candles of the same length, same thickness and same weight are placed on the shrine.

Before the wedding ceremony, two people must be asked to light these two red candles on time, which is called "wax forming". These two people must be people who have sons and daughters, be filial to the elderly, be caring for the young, have a conscience for others, are willing to work and run the family well, because they will be role models for the bride and groom in the future. After the "carriage horse", the sedan chair was carried to the front of the gate, and the "round relatives", one on the left and right, helped the bride out of the sedan chair.

Bring it to the middle hall, quickly close the door, and let the bride and groom face the ancestral shrine to worship heaven and earth, ancestors, and the groom's parents. This is called the "worship hall". After the ceremony, the bride and groom entered the bridal chamber. At this time, some brides rushed to enter the bridal chamber, which was called "room grabbing". The bride snatches the house, which shows her reputation as being strong and unwilling to be inferior. Generally, when a married woman blocks the bride, she will let the groom enter the bridal chamber and sit on the bed first, which means that the bride cannot overpower the groom. Brides here generally have a very personality. Almost all of them have the habit of robbing houses and beds. They sit first on the center edge of the bed and squeeze the groom to the side. This shows that the bride is not easy to bully.

The person who is busy first wants to fire a cannon outside the door, and then says that he wants to busy the room, and the bride responds inside. If outsiders are not good at words, the newcomers will not open the door to receive them. After entering the door through the narration, he neither sat down, looked for cigarettes, or poured tea. Therefore, people in busy rooms must be able to speak before they can get their hands and mouth, and their words must be compiled into poems, which can be read or sung. For example: "Walking into the bridal chamber and taking a look, the bride and groom will feel happy. Walking forward and bowing, my brother wanted to have a wedding night. Standing for a long time, I am afraid that my feet will be sore, and if I talk too much, I am afraid my throat will be itchy. I dare not sit on the chairs in the house, and I cannot taste the fragrant tea on the table." At this time, the bride must get up and entertain the busy people with tobacco and tea. There is a saying that goes: "Three days are no big or small", which means that young and old can participate in the busy room to make the bride laugh, ask the bride for candy, etc. After the red candle is lit, the bride and groom are led by the round mother-in-law and the sending mother-in-law respectively to the middle of the hall, with the men on the east and the women on the west, facing the shrine. The newlyweds knelt down.

Then, incense and incense are served, silk are offered and burned, wine is offered and wine is honored, and food is served and food is honored. After offering, the bride and groom bowed down and listened to the text. After reading the text, the bride and groom bowed. After the newlyweds bowed, the bride was escorted into the embroidery room, while the groom stayed in the middle hall before they began to entertain guests. After the banquet is settled, invite your relatives to join the banquet first and set out wine to welcome the guests. Duguan delivered a speech on behalf of the man's host family, and Shangqin thanked him on behalf of the woman. The groom saluted to the bride's three relatives and six relatives in front of the banquet, thanking these relatives for the various dowries they had provided for the bride.

On the evening of the wedding or the next morning, a tea worship ceremony will be held. The bride will present tea shoes or tea eggs given to the man's elders and relatives in public. After receiving the tea shoes and eggs, these elders and relatives would give the bride tea money and express their gratitude to the bride for her courtesy. On the morning of the second day of marriage, the bride and groom sat at the top table and accompanied them to dinner. In advance, both the man and the woman had to give wedding money to the chef hired by the other party, which was called a "kitchen". The chef hired by the man's family made the dishes into flowers for the relatives and placed them on the banquet, and the musicians played the fine music.

The relatives had to give money to the musicians and chefs and throw it in the flower bowl. The chef will say some praises. After breakfast, the relatives were about to go home, and both sides still had some humble words. Generally, on the second day after marriage, or on another auspicious day, the bride and the groom go back to her mother's home to save their parents. This is called "returning home".

Going back to the door is the same day and returning the same day. There is a rule here: no room for a month. There are cases where the groom cannot share the same room with the bride on the night of the bride's wedding. After returning home, it is the real wedding night. When some people return to their homes, the bride and groom return to their mother's house and kowtow to their ancestors 'memorial tablets before meeting their parents. When you go home after dinner, if you are far away from home, you have to stay overnight, so you will return home a month later. At this point, the entire wedding ended.